Conservation of water:

I just boiled some eggs to add to a monster salad I am planning on eating here in a few hours.  I use my filtered water from my Berkey to boil the eggs in and left the lid off so that the moist warmth of the boiling process can help me on my constant quest for a little humidity in my home during the dry winter months.

This thought brought me around to an issue that I have found crossing my mind more than usual.  Conservation of water.  I am not going to get into a huge debate about Climate Change, not going to illicit fear, frustration or folly.  I am going to take a common sense approach the issue.   I will interject my stance on the matter, as it is my blog and I have an opinion… and here it is.  Math.  Do the math.  Nuff said.

During any given day, I use a lot of water… at least to me it feels like a lot. Depending on the time of the year I can get the meter on my water monitor spinning at a healthy rate in order to feed my power spraying addiction.  If you have not tried power spraying I highly suggest it to calm your mind and feed your soul.

I am now living alone so my consumption is without doubt far less. However, as I run the faucet full on while rinsing out a glass and perhaps turning to grab the towel while the water is still running…. Or when I am wanting hot water and just let the water run until it reaches the desired temperature…. I realize that I can do better! And that, for me, is what this journey is about.  Doing better!  Why? Because I am but one of 8 BILLION humans on this planet and although that is just a ‘drop in the bucket’, pardon the pun, it is important to turn that around and think about how significant a small ripple of change can be. I think about how you may, after reading this, find yourself thinking about it and implementing a small change in your routine that then feeds the idea of ‘doing better’… and then you share that energy and information and then one of your friends, co-workers, kids, whatever thinks ‘hey, great idea’ and implements it in their life and then… well hell!  Before long that is a lot of drops going into that bucket of “doing better”.  Be the ripple of change.  I think I need a T-shirt with that on it.  Be the Ripple!  A new movement… I digress.

Perhaps I am an idealist, perhaps I just think too much, or maybe I am on to something here.  Either way it makes me smile to conserve water, resources et al.  That makes me feel better.  That makes a difference in my world…which I just happen to be sharing with 8 Billion other souls.

So, the eggs finished boiling.  I have mastered the art of hard boiled eggs without using any extra water and cooking them to perfection.  I simply put the eggs in the cold water, bring it to a boil with the lid slightly ajar, then turn down the heat to medium and set the timer for 3 minutes.  When the timer goes off I turn it off take off the lid and let the water cool to room temperature…with the eggs still in the water. They will finish cooking to perfection as the water cools and as they cool the shell will release from the cooked whites and peel easily without having to run them under yet more water!  Boom!  Water, now cooled, is then poured into a plant for a little mineral boost after I splash a bit into my dog’s water for the same reason.  Egg shells are saved and crushed to add to dog food or added to my eggshell bag which I fill up all fall and winter in preparation for spring planting of the garden.

Nothing has gone to waste, nothing is unappreciated, nothing is underutilized.

This is just boiling eggs!  One example of the millions of easy no frill ways you can make a difference through effortless changes.

When I want hot water out of my tap I grab an empty gallon milk jug or mason jar or cup or whatever and run the water into that until it is the desired temperature.  This water can fill up your pet bowl, water a plant, be thrown into your water filter system or put on the stove in a kettle until you are ready to make your next spot of tea. For me the hot water out of my tap doesn’t take long.  My water heater is directly below my kitchen, a very wise thinking process my sister employed when remodeling her house, which is now my house!  She went from having a water heater in the opposite corner of the basement, as far as you can get from the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, to moving it directly under this area.  This helps considerably with the amount of water that would otherwise be wasted as the hot water traveled a couple dozen feet or more across a cold pipe in a cold basement to reach the faucet!  It is the little things!

It doesn’t matter really what your take on the issue of Climate Change is.  What your beliefs are, your political leanings, your skin color, your nationality whatever labels used to keep us divide.  It just takes little effort and a little thoughtfulness to consider making small changes which can impact the whole.  It doesn’t put anyone out of a job that I don’t waste water while making my boiled eggs. It isn’t pledging allegiance to one ideology or another for me to just use my head and not be wasteful.  It is just leaving as little harm in my wake as I travel through my life.

That brings us to the challenge I present to you today.  Share with me what you do, have done, think about doing, will do… to make a little difference.  I know there are a million ways I can learn to change habits for the ‘better’ and am eager to learn some from you!!

Learning, Living, Laughing and Loving,

Ida